


Where The Red Sun Glows

by orphan_account



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Redemption, This is not that fic, Tumblr Prompt, and it only hurts sometimes, and work with kitster to free slaves, don't talk to me about all the ramifications of vader not being in custody/executed, this is just fluff, this is the nebulous AU i have in my head, where luke and vader go back to tatooine to free slaves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-28
Updated: 2016-12-28
Packaged: 2018-09-12 19:06:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9085927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Luke brings home a friend, and Anakin is less than impressed.





	

**Author's Note:**

> _spooky-spagetties said: 12 or 36 for Vader, my man. (feel free to issue a counter- challenge)._
> 
>  
> 
> The title is a twist on 'Where the Red Fern Grows' because I couldn't think of anything meaningful or witty. I also chose 36 in honor of Vader's space hyenas. Unfortunately, these are not the actual hyenas from the treasured tome, just the bargain brand Tatooine version. This is most likely not what you wanted nor expected, but I'll be honest, I can make anything about Vader and Luke if I think long enough.

“Why is there a dog in the living room.”

 

Luke cooed at the dog; it looked to be a form of domesticated anooba, possibly taken from the subspecies in Tatooine’s Southern hemisphere. The anooba population there had a thin, spotted coat, and a thick ruff of fur trailing down their spine, while the Northern subspecies was mostly hairless. The ruff on this anooba was almost comically tall, and it waved like savanna grasses as the dog snuggled into Luke.

 

Luke continued praising the dog as if Anakin wasn’t there. “Who’s a good girl? You are, you are!”

 

The anooba flopped on Luke’s lap, cackling. It was the signature sound of any anooba, North or South - a wild laugh, roaming across the empty desert. The long tail swung back and forth, knocking over a clothing rack, a small table, and Luke’s abandoned cup of _tzai._

 

“Why do you have a dog, Luke.”

 

Luke looked up, blue eyes bright, as if he’d just noticed Anakin was there. It was impossible that the dog had consumed so much of his attention that he’d missed Anakin’s force signature, right? His son was much more vigilant than that.

 

Luke’s face broke into a grin. “She’s a beautiful cub, isn’t she?”

 

“Gorgeous,” Anakin said, in the exact tone that implied he believed the opposite. “Why do you have her?”

 

“I’m thinking Bayulara is a good name,” Luke said, rubbing at the spot behind one of her fangs. They were uncommonly small, only half the length of Luke’s finger - it was a young cub, indeed.

 

“You’re not answering my question.”

 

“Bayulara doesn’t appreciate your question,” Luke said, grabbing the anooba by the cheeks and kissing her nose, which twitched in happiness. 

 

Anakin sighed. He loved his son. Luke had sat through him through the countless surgeries it took to recreate something functioning from the wreck his old Master had left, even if he’d never be free of the suit in its entirety; the control panel was still sunk into his flesh, buried beneath layers of traditional Tatooinian dress. Luke had carved him a new life, a new meaning, a new purpose. Luke had _stayed._

 

“I don’t believe Bayulara understands Basic, Luke,” Anakin said, crossing his arms. “Explain.”

 

Luke raised an eyebrow.

 

“Please,” Anakin amended. He tried to mold his voice into something less demanding, but it made his words hardly audible between the sand-on-stone rasp and the oxygen mask. 

 

Luke must’ve heard him, because he smiled, and said, “I stole her. Her old owner wasn’t treating her right; she was tied up at midday, no water, no shelter, and she looked awful - so I may have just... taken her.”

 

“Are you aware that you have a terrible habit of picking up strays, son?” Anakin asked. It was harder to stifle his smile than it should’ve been. Padme - she had done the same thing, he recalled, to the stray cats that plagued Coruscant’s streets. She never kept them long, always shuffled them to a shelter or a friend, but - 

 

But that had been a long time ago. In the present, Luke was smiling up at him.

 

“It may have been mentioned once or twice,” Luke said. 

 

“Bayulara is a potentially dangerous animal,” Anakin said. “Anooba get very - large. They are hunters.”

 

Luke pushed himself to his feet, and Bayulara cried out at the sudden loss of contact, and rose with him. 

 

Anakin peered curiously at the dog; her coat was dull, and her bones prodded at the skin.

 

“I guess she would not be.... the _most_ dangerous thing you have stolen,” Anakin said. 

 

Luke grinned, and his hand rose up to take Anakin by the shoulder. “I figured you could use a friend when I’m not here. Someone to help you get people to safe houses when I can’t.”

 

The idea that Anakin was somehow incapable still ruffled him, and he jolted, like an urusai when rubbed backwards. It took the tenuous self-control he was still building to keep the poison in his head, and out of his mouth. 

 

“Oh, no,” Luke said, despairingly. “Don’t give me your huffy face. Don’t do it.”

 

“Hmph,” Anakin replied, and he used the Force to call Luke’s abandoned cup to him and ducked in the kitchen.

 

In his wake, Luke loudly informed Bayulara that he was using his affectionate stalk. Anakin could not roll his eyes hard enough. 

 

When Bayulara wanders up to him, sometime after dinner, Anakin definitely does not scratch her ears. When sleep fails him that night, as it so often does, Bayulara does not take root beside him, and he does not rub the harsh nobs of her spine until the twin suns rise again. When Luke ships back out to Coruscant three days later, he is only annoyed that he’s been landed with taking care of the thing, and is not at all grateful for the company.

 

Decidedly not.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope it was enjoyable! Don't think about it too hard, this is literally 100% unedited. Didn't even read it twice.


End file.
